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Tucker Carlson announces upcoming release of interview with Putin in Russia

Published

8 months ago

8 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Patrick Delaney

‘Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in, and we have the right to tell them about it because we are Americans too,’ the popular journalist said. ‘Freedom of speech is our birthright.’

Tucker Carlson announced a forthcoming interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating his purpose is to fulfill his duty as a journalist and counteract dishonest reporting from “corrupt” Western media that “lie[s] to their readers and viewers … mostly be omission.”

The former Fox News flagship host released the announcement on Tuesday from his new Tucker Carlson Network and on his X account (formerly named Twitter). He emphasized the monumental ramifications of the war in Ukraine and the corresponding ignorance of the American people about how it will affect them and even “define the lives of our grandchildren.”

Lamenting the “hundreds of thousands of people dead” from the war, including “an entire generation of young Ukrainians,” Carlson said “the long-term effects are even more profound. This war has utterly reshaped the global military and trade alliances,” as have the sanctions that have been imposed from the U.S. across the world.

“In total, they have upended the world economy. The post-World War II economic order, the system that guaranteed prosperity in the West for more than 80 years, is coming apart very fast, and along with it, the dominance of the U.S. dollar,” he warned.

Most the world understands these “history-altering developments” and “yet the populations of the English-speaking countries seem mostly unaware. They think that nothing has really changed … because no one has told them the truth.”

According to the Russian Sputnik English language news service that interviewed allegedly ordinary Russians on the streets in Moscow, they are delighted Carlson has come to Moscow and will be speaking with their president because of his fair and balanced reporting. It is surprising how familiar they are with him and how articulate they are in what they have to say on the topic.

Providing an example of corruption in the media, Carlson went on to consider the “scores of interviews with Ukrainian President Zelensky” in the west describing them as “fawning pep sessions, specifically designed to amplify Zelensky’s demand that the U.S. enter more deeply into a war in Eastern Europe and pay for it.”

“That is not journalism. It is government propaganda, propaganda of the ugliest kind, the kind that kills people,” he said.

“Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine, or what his goals are now,” he said. “That’s wrong. Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in, and we have the right to tell them about it because we are Americans too. Freedom of speech is our birthright. We were born with the right to say what we believe. That right cannot be taken away no matter who is in the White House. But they’re trying anyway.”

He went on to describe how the Biden administration illegally accessed his text messages three years ago and then leaked them to the press in an effort to thwart a planned interview with Putin at the time and charged them with doing the same again recently.

While billionaire X owner Elon Musk has promised to allow the Putin interview to remain on his platform, Carlson warned that “Western governments, by contrast, will certainly do their best to censor this video on other, less-principled platforms, because that’s what they do. They are afraid of information they can’t control.”

Reactions: EU may sanction Carlson, ‘traitor;’ MTG: ‘what REAL journalism looks like’

Perhaps the first sortie to come in this effort happened when a member of the European Union (EU) Parliament proposed placing sanctions on Carlson, including a “travel ban” and submitting him to further investigation.

Newsweek reported Wednesday that former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who is now serving in the EU legislative body, said that since the Russian president is considered a “war criminal, and the EU sanctions all who assist him in that effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service” should investigate Carlson.

But many conservatives in the United States have come to the popular commentator’s defense in this regard.

Fellow internet political pundit Candace Owens posted on X that such consideration by the EU official “is little more than an admission that they have been lying about everything regarding Ukraine. The narrative is about to fully collapse & they are terrified. God bless Tucker & free speech.”

Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on X, “This is what REAL journalism looks like from @TuckerCarlson. And @elonmusk is protecting free speech and free press on this platform by allowing Tucker to interview Vladimir Putin.”

Knowing Carlson was in Moscow over the weekend, however, neoconservative Bill Kristol suggested the highest-rated cable host in history be prevented from returning to the U.S. “Perhaps we need a total and complete shutdown of Tucker Carlson re-entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” he posted on X.

Additionally, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who with Liz Cheney of Wyoming was one of only two Republicans to serve on Nancy Pelosi’s House select committee to investigate the January 6, 2021 disturbance at the U.S. Capitol, called Carlson a “traitor” and posted a poll on X asking his followers to choose whether they believe the popular analyst is “on Putin’s payroll” or if “he just LOVES him.”

In Carlson’s Tuesday announcement, he seemed to respond, “We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States, and we want it to remain prosperous and free.”

“We are not encouraging you to agree with what Putin may say in this interview, but we are urging you to watch it. You should know as much as you can. And then, like a free citizen and not a slave, you can decide for yourself,” he concluded.

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‘Serious Problem’: America’s Cutting Edge Weaponry Is Dependent On Chinese Tech, Experts Warn

Published on October 5, 2024

By

From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

 

By Jake Smith

American defense startups are far too reliant on Chinese parts — and that poses a serious risk of exploitation by Beijing, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Business is booming as hundreds of defense startups have joined the growing U.S. military-industrial complex since 2021, according to The Wall Street Journal. But defense contractors are heavily dependent on China for parts for weapons systems, including motors, chips and rare earth minerals, which poses potential avenues for Beijing to exploit or hamper American technologies, experts told the DCNF.

“This is a serious problem for two reasons,” John Lee, senior defense expert at the Hudson Institute, told the DCNF. “First, as we saw during the pandemic, over-reliance on Chinese supply chains for components and inputs leaves countries and economies vulnerable to politically or policy-motivated restrictions being imposed by Beijing.”

“Second, components can have elements inserted into them without the knowledge of the end user. This could be spying equipment, channels for China to disable or damage the component from a distance, or even materials that can weaponize the component,” Lee said.

New defense contractors particularly rely on these parts because they don’t enjoy the same cash reserve that the industry giants do, and China makes and sells the parts for a cheaper price.

But these startups don’t want to be so reliant on China, given that the country is actively trying to undermine the U.S. and would likely be an adversary in a global war scenario, industry executives told the WSJ.

Decoupling from China-based entities proves difficult and expensive, defense startups told the WSJ, though it’s the only option in the long term.

“There’s a lot of lip-flapping about national security resilience manufacturing. But there’s no money for us to do this,” Scott Cololismo, CEO of defense startup LAND Energy, told the WSJ. LAND has some funding grants from the Pentagon, but needs more support to thrive, Colosimo explained.

The rare-earth minerals that China provides U.S. defense contractors — including neodymium, yttrium and samarium — are of particular value, given that they are essential for most high-tech military equipment, including laser and missile systems, jet engines, communications devices and even nuclear propulsion systems.

“Critical minerals are the building blocks for many of the most sensitive products in our defense industry,” Adam Savit, director of the China Policy Initiative at the America First Policy Initiative, told the DCNF. “China can abuse its dominant position in other critical mineral supply chains at any time.”

“The only long-term solution to this is to enact comprehensive permitting reform to approve domestic mining projects, and work with allied nations to develop new production when the U.S. lacks the relevant natural resources,” Savit said.

Savit’s warning that China can upset the supply chain of rare earth minerals also invokes a broader problem — China can cut the supply line for any of the parts needed by U.S. defense contractors, for any time or reason it chooses.

“If your supply chain runs dry, you have nothing to sell,” Ryan Beall, founder of drone manufacturer TILT Autonomy, told the WSJ.

Lee warned that the problem exposes the U.S. and West’s gaps in domestic supply chain capabilities for their respective defense industrial bases, which creates a vacuum that other actors like China find ways to exploit.

China supplies over 90% of the magnets used in motors for ships, missiles, satellites and drones, according to the WSJ. Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik and Rob Wittman sent a letter to an Air Force official last week and called the reliance on China “a serious national security threat,” pointing to an example in a report last year that found the Air Force increased its dependence on China for parts by 69%.

The idea to stop relying on China for resources became more popular after the COVID-19 pandemic, which created massive supply chain shortages in various sectors, including healthcare products. But in the defense capacity, it will take years to produce parts domestically, according to the WSJ.

“There has been a hollowing out of manufacturing and industrial capabilities in the West which provides China with an enormous advantage,” Lee told the DCNF. “In the event of a crisis against a country such as China, this will become very dangerous for the U.S. and its allies.”

Unable to wait for domestic capabilities to improve and increasingly wary of buying from China, new defense contractors are turning to other alternatives for parts, according to the WSJ. Sourcing components from Mexico and Southeast Asia, utilizing 3-D printing and buying parts in bulk have been some of the creative ways contractors are solving the problem.

Industry experts also expect that the U.S. government is likely to restrict some Chinese parts used by contractors in a bid to move toward domestic capabilities, according to the WSJ. Some restrictions on items used to produce cameras and radios already exist.

“If the government wants a U.S. supply chain, that’s fine, but they need to be clear about their requirements, and they need to pay for it,” Beall told the WSJ.

Featured Image: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau

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conflict

Israel Reportedly Warned Iran It Would Strike Nuclear Sites If It Was Attacked, Officials Say

Published on October 1, 2024

By

From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

 

By Jake Smith

Israel had reportedly warned that it would go after Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities if Tehran decided to launch an attack, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Iran launched hundreds of missiles into Israeli territory on Tuesday in what is being considered a major escalation in a region already fraught with conflict. Tehran signaled to Arab officials on Monday evening its plans for the strike, which it said would be similar to an attack carried out in April that involved launching hundreds of drones and missiles into Israel, according to Arab officials speaking to the WSJ.

Israel responded Monday by warning Tehran that if it did carry out an attack — regardless of size or scope, or whether it involved casualties — it would directly strike Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities, Arab officials told the WSJ.

Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday was largely intercepted by Israeli and U.S. forces postured in the region, but some projectiles evaded air defense systems and struck targets throughout the country. There has been at least one casualty reported thus far in the West Bank, but no casualties reported in Israel.

Israel has yet to respond but said in a statement on Tuesday that there would “be consequences.”

“Iran’s attack is a severe and dangerous escalation,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said. “Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest of readiness. Our operational plans are ready. We will respond wherever, whenever and however we choose.”

After-action assessments are still being conducted, and it’s too early to say how the conflict may evolve from this point, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday.

“There are initial assessments. But we need time to collect all of the information, and we need time to talk to our Israeli counterparts. And we need time to talk to our other partners in the region,” Miller said. “And we’ll do that over the coming days. But it is clear that, once again, this is a significant escalation by Iran.”

Miller declined to comment on whether Iran’s nuclear site was a legitimate target for an Israeli strike.

“I don’t want to get into — and this is not to say I’m ruling anything out, and that I’m ruling anything in — but I would answer any question this way, which is: We wanna have these conversations with our Israeli counterparts over the coming days. It is clear that this is an unacceptable attack [by Iran]… there will be consequences.”

The current conflict began roughly a year ago when Hamas invaded Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people. Israel subsequently launched a war against Hamas in Gaza, and as the war has increased in size and scale, Iran and its other proxy terrorist groups like Hezbollah have gotten involved.

Iran’s strike on Tuesday is rare; it typically conducts military or terrorism operations through its various proxy groups. Tehran did launch a separate series of strikes against Israel in April, although Tuesday’s strike was seen as more expansive.

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